One option would be for Charnley to put Carver in charge until the summer, when a full-time appointment would be made.

A number of prospective candidates, including Ajax’s Frank de Boer and St Etienne’s Christophe Galtier, are NOT prepared to leave their clubs midway through a season.

De Boer said: “I am honoured by the interest from Newcastle United. But for the next six months I am only focusing on Ajax.”

“If they said to me take it to the end of the season, I’d be prepared to do the job, no danger of that,” said Carver.

“I have enough belief in myself and enough time until the end of the season that they’d say to me at the end of the season you’ve done a good job, keep the job.”

Asked about those candidates, among them Derby County head coach Steve McClaren, who have ruled themselves out of the running, Carver added: “They might be in a better situation – I don’t know what they’re thinking.”